Machine for splitting apart two-on siamese twin books



July 4, 1967 P. E. KLEINEBERG 3,329,053

MACHINE FOR SPLITTING APART TWO-0N SIAMESE TWIN BOOKS Filed 001:. 4, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 404 A? AqE/NEBEAG BY %Mlwf JWe/ 9 ATTORNEYS.

MACHINE FOR SPLITTING APART TWO-ON SIAMESE TWIN BOOKS Filed Oct. 4, 1965 J ly 96 P. E. KLEINEBERG 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 244/4 5. /fz//v5/P6 BY W 03% AT%RNEYS.

y 4. 1967 P. E. KLEINEBERG MACHINE FOR SPLITTING APART TWO-ON SIAMESE TWIN BOOKS Filed on. 4, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. 1944/4 A. flE/NE5E7P6 P. E. KLEINEBERG MACHINE FOR SPLITTING APART Two-0N SIAMESE TWIN BOOKS 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 July 4, 1967 Filed Oct.

July 4, 1967 P. E. KLEINEBERG 3,329,053

MACHINE FOR SPLITTING APART TWOON SIAMESE TWIN BOOKS Filed Oct. 4, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 ENTOR: /?44/1 5 EVA 51 76 BY W W M a ATTORNEY y 4, 1957 F. E. KLEINEBERG 3,329,053

MACHINE FOR SPLITTING APART TWO-ON SIAMESE TWIN BOOKS Filed Oct. 4, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. 4u4 f. flwvtazxw mm, W .ae/

United States Patent 3,329,053 MACHINE FOR SPLITTING APART TWO-ON SIAMESE TWIN BOOKS Paul E. Kleineberg, Easton, Pa., assignor to John C. Motter Printing Press Co., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 492,471 24 Claims. (Cl. 83303) The object of this invention is to enable two-on books to be readily split in a continuous manner and coupled directly to a binder or covering machine.

In the prior art, it has normally been the practice to out such two-on Siamese twin books apart on a band sawing machine in stacks of five or more, depending on the thickness of the books. When large quantities of books are to be produced, they must be mounted and counted on skids and then transported to the band saws and fed thereto by hand in a suitable plurality. This operation becomes a costly one, as the saws become dull in a short period of time and they also quite often break if the books are fed too fast. In addition, the edges cut in this manner are not as smooth as would result if a knife were used to cut through the bound and covered groups of signatures. In the normal printing and binding operations, the books are joined together tail and head or fail and tail and each group of signatures will make two separate and complete books on being suitably split apart.

One feature of this invention is to provide a book splitter which can be coupled directly to the binder or covering machine or a combination of both machines and arranged to accept the books and split them apart while they are moving through the splitter at a continuous rate.

Another feature is to provide knife blades and holders therefor which allow for quick interchangeability and, in addition, provide a means for presetting the depth of out before the holder is placed into the machine with the knife blade therein. It is also possible, by using two sets of cutters, to make one set of cutters inoperative for chang ing and the second set operative until the cutters become dull. In this manner, the books may be split in a continuous line with no necessity for stopping the machine and cansing problems with the infeed from the binder and covering units.

Still another feature is to provide a conveyor system which may be readily set to accommodate books that are from one half inch to one inch thick and, in so doing, the center of the books will always be kept on the same horizontal plane, thereby eliminating any necessity for knife adjustments. In this manner, the books will always be completely split throughout their complete height. The conveyor system is arranged to accept center and feed the two-on Siamese twin books therebetween and, in addition, the compression plates mounted on the conveyor links are arranged to compress the signatures over the entire area with the exception of the bound face (book) so as thus to preclude damage thereto while it is still green. The conveyor system also has two vertical guides on either side which are controlled by a single actuating means to center the two-on books in proper position under the knife for splitting. Moreover, the upper conveyor is individually movable longitudinally with reference to the lower conveyor to insure proper lining up of the pressure plates contained thereon.

Still another feature is to provide a book splitter which may be directly coupled to and driven by the binder and/ or covering machine and thus be governed as to speed thereby. The simplest way of coupling the splitter to the binder and/ or covering machine is by way of a suitable chain drive and the binder delivery modified to discharge one book at each cycle to the infeed portion of the extended bottom conveyor or chain.

More specifically the instant invention is directed to a machine for splitting apart two-on Siamese twin books comprising, in combination, book conveyor means arranged to accept the books with their binding edge as the leading edge in the direction of travel and hold them firmly in place thereon, a pair of cutter blades, one mounted above the books and one mounted therebelow and located beyond the other cutter in the direction of travel of said books, both cutters being disposed in the same vertical plane at right angles to the plane of the traveling books, the first blade being operable to cut through the top group of' signatures making up the book, and the second blade being operable to cut through the remaining signatures and complete the splitting apart of the twin books, and mechanism for operating the blades in proper relation to the conveyor movement of the books. In addition, the book conveyor means are arranged to be adjustable to accept books of different thicknesses and hold them firmly in place thereon and act automatically to center the books to insure proper splitting thereof, without changing the knife setting, by cutting the top group of signatures during the first cut and the remaining signatures during the second cut, with said conveyor means being continuously operable and driven in timed relation to and by the binder and/ or covering machine.

Various other features, objects and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following particular description and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the upper cutter blade holder and operating mechanism with the upper and lower conveyors arranged to carry the two-on books past the cutting position in a continuous stream;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the upper cutter blade holder and operating mechanism taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1 and clearly shows a two-on book contained between the upper and lower conveyors with the outboard ends being centered and contained by the guide rails. In this view, the upper cutter blade is shown in its down or cutting position, while the lower cutter blade is shown in its down or rest position;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the cutter blade with a template placed thereon for mounting in the cutter blade holder;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the upper and lower cutter blade operating mechanism and clearly shows the conveyors and guide rails with the books therebetween;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the lower conveyors and clearly shows book pushers and the arrangement of the plates contained on the conveyor links for compressing and holding the two-on books therebetween;

FIG. 6 is a sectiontaken at 66 of FIG. 6 through one of the relieved plates of the conveyor arranged to receive the bound edges of said books without compressing them in order not to destroy the binding while it is still green;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the upper and lower conveyor spacing mechanism arranged to always keep the center of the books in the same plane regardless of their thickness; and

FIG. 8 is a side elevation looking at the cutter blade operating mechanism from the front side as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and clearly shows the drive gears driven from the binder and/or covering machine and the associated gear arranged to drive the upper and lower cutterblades and'the upper and lower conveyors in properly timed relation.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper cutter blade holder 10, with the knife blade 11 mounted therein and securely held in place by means of set screws 12, 13 and 14, is mounted in the upper cutter blade actuator 15 and held therein by means of set screws 16, 17, 18 and 19. The upper cutter blade actuator 20 is mounted in the two crank arms 21 and 22 arranged to be driven in unison by the two gears 23 and 24 in a counterclockwise direction to cause the knife blade 11 to shear through the top group of signatures making up and forming the two-on Siamese twin books 25 as they are being continuously moved along between the four conveyors 26, 27, 28 and 29 running in the tracks 30, 31, 32 and 33. The crank circle diameter is less than the diameter of a circle whose circumference is equal to the distance between the faces of the book pusher lugs 40 and 41 arranged on the bottom conveyor 29 to produce a shear or slicing cut. The speed of the knife blade 11 will be less in the direction of travel of the book and will therefore cut the book from the binding edge back towards the pushed edges. The tracks 30, 31, 32 and 33 are so.formed as to make a continuous loop in which the conveyors will be held and driven at constant speeds to thus form the means arranged to accept the books and hold them firmly in place thereon.

The action of the knife blade 11 is similar to a rotary guillotine with the books 25 being tightly held and having only a small open space between the flat plates 34 and 35 on the top face of the book and between the fiat plates 36 and 37 on the bottom face of the book mounted on the conveyor links as shown in FIG. 2. The arrangement of the conveyors is such that they will exert an even overall pressure on the area of the faces of the books except at the bound areas on the leading edge in the direction of travel, where the plate 38 is suitably relieved by machining at the leading edge to allow for no application of pressure in this area in order not to disturb the green bindings which could cause the book to distort or come apart during the splitting operation or shortly thereafter. If the signatures are of extreme size, it is also possible to relieve the pressure further by machining the leading edge of the matching bottom plate 39. The bottom conveyors 27 and 29 are fitted with the book pusher lugs 40 and 41 on conveyors 29 and 40a and 41a on conveyor 27 to thus form the means for effectively holding the signatures of books in confined relationship in order to insure their transport and cutting during the splitting cycle.

The four conveyors 26, 27, 28 and 29 running in the tracks 30, 31, 32 and 33 are arranged, as will be described later, to always keep the center line of the book on a given plane in order to be able to set the knife 11 in the cutter blade holder with a given distance protruding, and this is insured by means of a gauge 42 (shown in FIG. 3) placed below the bottom face of the cutter blade holder. The knife blade 11 will always protrude the same amount so as thus to allow the cutter blade holder with the cutting knife therein to be placed in position in the cutter blade actuators and locked therein, insuring a given depth of cut during a given stroke of the blade. It will be noted that the downwardly depending sides of the cutter blade holder are rigidly held in place against horizontal displacement by the addition of the welded cross bars 43 and 44 installed at the bottom ends. The holder 10 with its handle can be removed and the blade sharpened or replaced and the entire unit put back into place ready for use. In addition two screws may be placed in the top face of the cutter blade holder at either end, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3, to provide a further adjusting means and lock the blade in place and insure the depth of cut.

The two horizontal book end guides 45 and 46 shown in FIG. 2 are also arranged to be simultaneously moved inwardly and outwardly with reference to the knife blade 11 as the center and are also arranged and mounted so as to be always operable in the same horizontal plane with the two lower conveyors 27 and 29 to thus keep these four units in the same plane for the acceptance of the books therebetween as they are delivered from the binder and/ or covering machine. The control mechanism on these 4 two guides 45 and 46 are arranged to move the guides inwardly and outwardly in a fiat plane by means of an arm actuated mechanism similar to that shown in FIG. 7 for actuating the conveyors in a vertical plane, except that in this version it will be in a horizontal plane and the actuating arms will be longer due to a greater distance variation being necessary. These two operating systems, the one for holding the books tightly in'between, and the other for keeping the book ends lined up to bring the center thereof under the cutter blades, forms a very important part of the invention as it accepts, centers and holds the books in proper position in timed relation to the cutter blades to enable the continuous procession of books to be suitably parted without any labor necessary. The discharge ends of the conveyors will drop the books into two separate piles and they can then be counted and packaged for delivery or fed into a trimmer to trim the other three edges.

Referring to FIG. 4, the conveyor, the book end guides and two cutters forming a complete operating position are all shown in a complete system viewed from the top to disclose how the parts are arranged in reference to one another. It will be noted that there has been no attempt in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 to show any base for mounting the equipment and in the further disclosures made herein this same plan will be followed. It is felt that the individual systems being disclosed herein may 'be arranged in many ways either on simple or elaborate bases, depending upon the end results desired, and the placement of the various systems in relation to each other poses no problem, wherefore the individual systems will be described alone without reference to mounting means therefor. The second cutter blade, with its mounting and motivating means, is also the same except that it is mounted below the conveyors and is arranged to be driven upwardly to cut the lower half of the two-on books to thus complete the separation. The lower cutter blade actuator 50 is mounted on the two crank arms 51 and 52 arranged to be driven in unison by the two gears 53 and 54 in a counterclockwise direction to shear through the bottom group of signatures 25 making up and forming the book as it is being moved along between the four conveyors 26, 27, 28 and 29 running in the tracks 30, 31, 32 and 33. When it is desired to allow for continuous operation, the two cutters are duplicated and placed beyond and positioned and locked in the up position as they are shown here, and it is then possible to stop one group of cutters and start the other in order to remove and replace the knives without stopping production. The cutters when they are to 'be replaced will always be in the up or retracted position in order to facilitate their removal.

Referring to FIG. 5, the upper faces of the two lower conveyors 27 and 29 running in the tracks 31 and 32 are shown in order to more fully disclose the book transporting and holding means. The two conveyors 27 and 29, whose links are covered on their upper faces with the thin steel plates to form the book holding means, and the two plates 55 and 56 which are fitted with the two book pushing lugs 40 and 40a, form the beginning of a series of plates 57, 58, 59, 60, 61 and 62 which support and contain the books. The plates 38 and 38a may be chamfered, if necessary, at their leading edge to prevent the green binding of said book being distorted or destroyed. The full plate 65 with its slot is used to hold the two conveyors apart at all times and prevent any damage being done to the knives if a conveyor link did happen to break. The above group forms a typical group of plates and the conveyor lengths are arranged to contain a given series of groups dependent upon the layout of cutters. In addition, the two upper conveyors 26 and 28 are arranged to be adjustable with reference to the two bottom conveyors 27 and 29 to allow the sets of plates contained on each to be properly lined up one to the other.

The actual chamfering of the plates 39 and 39a is shown in FIG. 6 and the degree of chamfer of these plates and the matching plates 38 and 38a above will be the same and will depend on the thickness variations encountered in the books and the total thickness thereof as well as the thickness of the signatures forming the book and the combined'thicknesses thereof. The prime thought in mind is that the signatures and the binding thereof into the book are still green (glues and stitching still being wet and not having set up) and could therefore be easily displaced during the clamping operation.

The two bottom conveyors 27 and 29 are longer than the two top conveyors 26 and 28 in order that they may accept the books as they are discharged thereon from the binder and/or covering machine and properly center them on said conveyors by means of the guides 43 and 44. In this manner there is no possibility of injury to the binding or the books and they will be properly split in half to form the two books in a continuous stream.

Referring to FIG. 7, the adjusting means for the two conveyors 30 and 31 arranged above one another is disclosed and it will be noted that the arrangement is such as to always keep the center line of the books, regardless of their thickness, in the same horizontal plane. In other Words, the adjusting means is arranged to move about that plane and displace the upper and lower conveyors simultaneously the same amounts. The actuating means consist of a horizontally arranged and reciprocable bar 70 containing four rectangular slots 71, 72, 73 and 74, with two on the top face and two on the bottom face. Four crank arms 75, 76, 77 and 78 are attached to the shafts 80, 81, 82 and 83 mounted in the frame for rotatable movement, said crank arms being formed at their outboard ends with the pins 84, 85, 86 and 87 fitted into the slots 71, 72, 73 and 74 of the bar 70. The shafts 80, 81, 82 and 83 are also arranged with crank arms 90, 91,

92 and 93 fitted with pins 94, 95-, 96 and 97 fitted into the actuating arms 98, 99, 100 and 101 arranged on the conveyor tracks 30 and 31. The bar 70 is fitted on its end with an extended threaded portion 102 anchored in the machine base portion 103 and adjustably mounted and retained therein by means of the spring 104 and the two nuts 105 and 106. Therefore, by adjusting the two nuts 105 and 106, the bar 70 is moved back and forth in its mounts to thus move the upper and lower conveyor tracks 30 and 31 up or down the desired amount to create the necessary opening between the conveyors to compress and hold the books therebetween and transport them continuously past the knives. It will also be noted that the insertion of the spring 104 also allows for variations in book thickness and if something foreign does happen to get into the conveyor, the spring will allow the object to go through but the main object of the spring is to allow for a given pressure to be steadily applied on all the books.

In FIG. 8 the-complete drive mechanism is displayed as viewed from the front side of the cutter and conveying mechanisms as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The main drive gear 102 is driven from the binder and/or covering machine by means of gears or chains and, in this instance, has a coupling pin 103 whereby the entire drive may be controlled to start and stop the unit. If desired, a suitable clutch may be substituted and may be installed at the drive or driven ends as deemed expedient. The conveyors 27 and 29 are driven by means of gear 107 which in turn is coupled to and drives gear 108, which latter is arranged to drive the two upper conveyors 26 and 28. The upper conveyor gear is formed with a lateral adjustment means 109 which allows the two upper conveyors to be laterally adjusted with reference to the lower conveyors to thus insure the vertical linearity of the metal plates one above the other to insure the retention of the two-on books inbetween. If there is too much variation in book thicknesses, the matching gears 107 and 108 may be coupled tions in book thickness which will move the drives apart or together depending thereon.

The main drive gear 102 is arranged to drive the lower cutter blade actuating mechanism by means of gear 54, idler gear 110 and gear 53v to thus cause the lower blade to be thrust upwardly in a clockwise direction and cut the lower half of the books 25. This last gear 53 also drives the idlers 111 and 112 which in turn drive the upper cutter blade actuating mechanism by means of gear 24, idler gear 113 and gear 23 to thus cause the upper blade to be thrust downwardly in a counterclockwise direction and cut the upper half of said books 25. It will be noted that the lower conveyors 27 and 29' are extended to receive the books thereon from the binder and/ or covering machine. The speed of the conveyors is controlled by the binder and/ or covering machine and it will therefore accept books as they are ejected and move them past the splitters which are arranged to be driven at a rate to insure the cuts being made while the books are under the knives and in this manner perform the complete splitting in timed relation to the movement of the conveyor. This splitter may also be arranged to drive a trimmer which will accept and trim the other three edges and can be driven in unison with and by said splitter.

From the foregoing description it can readily be seen that the instant invention is complete in its ability to receive and center the two-on Siamese book-s and split them apart in a continuous line to thus eliminate all the labor and mechanical problems now encountered in the art. Also in retrospect it can be appreciated why the component parts of the instant invention were not shown mounted in a frame or base as the units individually present no problem in fitting them into the final product as they are readily compatible one to another. The limiting factor seems to be the drive means and the control means to be utilized in coupling the unit to the binder and/ or covering machine.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to a specific embodiment, it is to be understood that it is not to be limited thereto, but is to be construed broadly and restricted solely by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for splitting apart two-on Siamese twin books comprising, in combination, book conveyor means arranged to accept the books and hold them firmly in place thereon, driving means for said book conveyor means, a pair of cutter blades, one mounted above the books and one mounted therebelow, said cutters being disposed in the same vertical plane at right angles to the plane of the traveling books but out of register with each other, the first blade being operable to cut through the top groups of signatures making up the books, and the second blade being operable to cut through the remaining signatures and complete the splitting apart of the twin books, and mechanism for operating the cutter blades in proper relation to the conveyor movement of the books.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the cutter blade mounted below the books is located beyond the other cutter blade in the direction of travel of the books.

3. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the books are arranged on the conveyor means with their binding edges as the leading edges.

4. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the book conveyor means are continuously operated and wherein the cutter blade operating mechanism is synchronized with the continuous movement of the conveyor means.

.5. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the depth of cut of the upper cutter blade is greater than that of the lower cutter blade.

6. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the cutter blade operating mechanism includes removable holders for the cutter blades to permit resharpening and replacement of the blades.

7. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the cutter blade operating mechanism includes holders for the cutter blades equipped with means for adjusting the blades for different depths of cut.

8. A machine according to claim 4, wherein the cutter blade operating mechanism is operated continuously in proper synchronism with the continuously operated conveyor means.

9. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the cutter blade mechanism imparts an endwise movement to the cutter blades during the cutting cycle to produce a shearing cut through the books.

10. A machine according to claim 9, wherein the cutter blade operating mechanism maintains the cutting edges of the blades always in parallelism with the plane of travel of the books.

11. A machine according to claim 10, wherein the cutter blade operating mechanism includes, for each blade, a holder, a pair of crank arms of equal length pivoted at one end to the opposite ends of the corresponding cut-ter blade holder, and driven shafts journaled in the machine with their axes in a horizontal line and to which the opposite ends of the crank arms are fixed.

12. A machine according to claim 11, wherein the cutter blade operating mechanism includes gearing for driving the driven shafts at the same speed and in the same direction.

13. A machine according to claim 9, wherein the rate of endwise movement of the enter blades is less than the speed of travel of the books during the cutting cycle.

14. A machine according to claim 13, wherein the direction of the endwise movement of the cutter blades is the same as the direction of travel of the books.

15. A machine according to claim 1, including two sets of cutter blades arranged in tandem along the path of travel of the books, and means whereby either set of blades, to the exclusion of the other, may be connected to the blade operating mechanism.

16. A machine according to claim 1, including means for varying the speed of travel of the book conveyor means.

17. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor means comprises two sets of endless conveyors, one arranged above and the other below the center line of the books, said conveyors being made up of a series of flat plates to grip the books therebetween.

18. A machine according to claim 17, including means for adjusting the two sets of conveyors toward and from each other with reference to the center line of the books.

19. A machine according to claim 17 wherein the upper set of conveyors is longitudinally adjustable with reference to the lower set of conveyors.

20. A machine according to claim 17, wherein the lower set of conveyors is equipped with a plurality of pusher elements spaced apart to act upon each successive book being transported through the machine.

21. A machine according to claim 1, including a pair of vertical guide rails arranged to engage the opposite ends of the books as they are advanced through the machine by the conveyor means.

22. A machine according to claim 21, wherein the vertical guide rails are flared outwardly from each other at their entrance end to center the books with reference to the cuter blades.

23. A machine according to claim 21, including means for adjusting the vertical guide rails toward and from each other with reference to the vertical plane of the cutter blades to accommodate books of different lengths.

24. A machine according to claim 17, wherein the conveyor plates are chamfered at one end to relieve the pressure on the book bindings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,807,499 5/1931 Trump 83328 3,122,041 2/1964 Kile et al 83-328 X 3,203,288 8/1965 Blumer 83-'328 X ANDREW R. JUHASZ, Primary Examiner.

JAMES M. MEISTER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A MACHINE FOR SPLITTING APART TWO-ON SIAMESE TWIN BOOKS COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, BOOK CONVEYOR MEANS ARRANGED TO ACCEPT THE BOOKS AND HOLD THEM FIRMLY IN PLACE THEREON, DRIVING MEANS FOR SAID BOOK CONVEYOR MEANS, A PAIR OF CUTTER BLADES, ONE MOUNTED ABOVE THE BOOKS AND ONE MOUNTED THEREBELOW, SAID CUTTERS BEING DISPOSED IN THE SAME VERTICAL PLANE AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE PLANE OF THE TRAVELING BOOKS BUT OUT OF REGISTER WITH EACH OTHER, THE FIRST BLADE BEING OPERABLE TO CUT THROUGH THE TOP GROUPS OF SIGNATURES MAKING UP THE BOOKS, AND THE SECOND BLADE BEING OPERABLE TO CUT THROUGH THE REMAINING SIGNATURES AND COMPLETE THE SPLITTING APART OF THE TWIN BOOKS, AND MECHANISM FOR OPERATING THE CUTTER BLADES IN PROPER RELATION TO THE CONVEYOR MEOVEMENT OF THE BOOKS. 